Do you really need a solicitor to move house?

Conveyancing is an important aspect of moving house. Rachel Inwood, Conveyancing Solicitor at Harold Stock & Co, tells us why it’s so important to make sure you have all your bases covered when it comes to the most important purchase of your life.

Buying your Dream Home

If you are currently on the search for your perfect, dream home, it’s likely that you are wondering at what point you might need a solicitor. If it’s your first time buying a property, you might be wondering whether you need a solicitor at all to buy a house.

The answer to the last question is, in short, yes! And the answer to the first question is, as soon as you can …

What is conveyancing?

Conveyancing is simply the legal transfer of a property from a seller to a buyer. However, simplicity stops at this point, as the transfer of any property is no way a straightforward transaction. The steps and processes involved can be complicated, and the numerous legal issues that exist to throw spanners in works, cause extended delays, extra cost and personal heartache.

As a Conveyancing Solicitor, I exist to help people through the buying process, and to help resolve any legal issues that do come up. Conveyancing solicitors make sure that you legally own the estate by completing a range of form filling, searches and other boring, complex admin duties that take time and considerable knowledge to fulfil.

Can you do your own conveyancing?

There are aspects of the legal process of transferring deeds you can do yourself, however, it is very time consuming, and there are many pitfalls that can tie you up in legal knots for weeks. Which is why it is advisable to take advice.

There are also circumstances where there is no choice but to involve a solicitor. If a mortgage is involved, you will need to use a solicitor to verify your identity, even if you don’t use one for the rest of the conveyancing. Additionally, many conveyancing solicitors (me included) will not act on a sale or purchase if there is no representation on the other side.

Lastly, without a solicitor, there is no legal protection for you if things go wrong. Once you appoint a solicitor, you come first for them. At Harold Stock & Co, we do everything in our power to make sure our clients come first and that their interests are fully protected throughout the conveyancing process.

What Your Conveyancing Solicitor Will Do For You

1. Explain the process clearly

There are plenty of legal complications associated with buying a house. Solicitors deal with these all the time, and there are few issues out there we haven’t come across before. We can help you to understand how the process works, identify everything you need to do and offer advice at every stage of the journey.

2. Carry out the correct searches and surveys

Your solicitor will carry out all the various investigations and searches for you and your mortgage lender, to make sure you know as much as possible about your new property before you buy it. This will include finding out if there have been any legal disputes, flooding, planning constraints or permissions that might affect your new home. If anything is found, we can advise you on the actions you can take.

3. Arranging the contract correctly

Because we make all the necessary investigations, we can help you to resolve any property-related legal problems before you exchange contracts. We will put together the right paperwork for you to enter a contract for the purchase between you and the seller. Once contracts have been exchanged, they become legally binding and there may be significant financial penalties if you or the seller pull out of the sale. Your solicitor and the seller’s solicitor will exchange contracts signed by you and the seller. We will also work with you and the seller’s solicitor to agree a date for completion – when you finally get the keys to your new home.

4. Get you into your home

We take all the steps to complete your house purchase, including transferring the funds to get you to completion. We will help you prepare the tax return and make the arrangements to pay the Stamp Duty Land Tax to HMRC. We will also register your name as the owner and your mortgage provider as the lender at Land Registry.

The advice and support you receive from an experienced and skilled conveyancing solicitor, will help to make the complicated and time-consuming process easier. Working with a conveyancing solicitor, reduces the risks and helps to make sure your dream move is as smooth as possible, and not a quagmire of stress.

For more information about conveyancing and how we can support your perfect move, contact us at Harold Stock & Co